Srinagar, May 03 (KMS): The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has asked Indian government to clarify the ban imposed on airing of Pakistani channels in occupied Kashmir.

IFJ’s Director for the Asia-Pacific, Jacqueline Park, in a statement said, “Indian government needs to explain the circumstances under which it decreed what seemed a ban to the entire world.” He added, “The free exchange of ideas through responsible media operators, can only be a favourable circumstance for settling political disputes that have simmered for generations.” 

The ban snowballed into a major political controversy as cable TV operators retaliated by blocking all Indian and international channels in the occupied territory. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, an IFJ affiliate, has deplored the ban on broadcast signals in occupied Kashmir.